MANHATTAN — Kansas State football defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman called it a grand slam and Buddy Wyatt, their position coach, is visibly excited.
Chiddi Obiazor, Jordan Allen and Ryan Davis, he Wildcats’ three defensive ends from the 2023 recruiting class, have yet to show what they can do on game days, but it appears that is just a matter of time.
“That d-end class a year ago has got a chance to be really special,” Wyatt said of the three redshirt freshmen. “We’ve got some really good players that are big, fast and strong. So, it’s exciting to see those guys getting better.”
Of the three, only Obiazor got on the field last season, appearing in three games while preserving his redshirt year. He had one tackle in the season opener against Southeast Missouri State and one tackle, and then had a stop, credited as a tackle for loss, against North Carolina State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
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Kansas State defensive end Brendan Mott (38) chases down TCU quarterback Max Duggan (15) during a 2022 game in Fort Worth, Texas. Mott is back for his senior season in 2024.
“Coming in (last) spring definitely helped me, so I feel like I’m a little ahead of the game,” said Obiazor, a 6-foot-6, 267-pounder from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. “(But) I feel like with the extra year that I had and the extra semester that Ryan and Jordan had has definitely helped us a lot.”
K-State now starting its fourth season with a three-man defensive front since making the switch from a 4-2-5 look in the 2021 season opener. Obiazor, Allen (6-4, 250) and Davis (6-4, 249) provide the kind of length and size needed to pull that off.
Allen, from Olathe South, was a top-five prospect in Kansas for the 2023 recruiting cycle, while Davis, a Phoenix product, was a top 15 in…
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